Plight of Buddhist art (Yahoo News)

[Jan Brzezinski]

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http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010301/ts/afghan_statues_dc_4.html

Afghans Smash Ancient Statues, Defy World Appeals
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The radical Taliban movement
began smashing all statues from Afghanistan (news -
web sites)'s rich cultural past Thursday, turning its
back on urgent international appeals to save the
ancient artifacts.

In Kabul, Mullah Qudratullah Jamal, the ruling
Taliban's information and culture minister, said
centers where the campaign had been unleashed included
Bamiyan Province -- site of two soaring statues of the
Buddha hewn from a solid cliff that are the most
famous relics of Afghanistan's history.

``All statues will be destroyed,'' he told reporters.
''Whatever means of destruction are needed to demolish
the statues will be used.''

``The work began early during the day. All of the
statues are to be smashed. This also covers the idols
in Bamiyan,'' he said.

Russia, Germany, India and Pakistan condemned the
destruction and appealed to the Taliban to reconsider.

International alarm was first sparked Monday, when
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar ordered the
smashing of all statues, including the two famous
Buddhas that soar 125 feet and 174 feet above Bamiyan.

The United Nations (news - web sites) cultural agency
UNESCO Wednesday appealed directly to the Taliban -- a
fundamentalist movement that regards all human
likenesses of divinity to be un-Islamic
-- to reverse its decision.


``UNESCO considers this to be a crisis,'' Christian
Manhart, head of UNESCO's Asian division in the
cultural heritage department, told Reuters.

Muslim Pakistan, one of Taliban's very few foreign
supporters, joined the international chorus Thursday.

``Pakistan attaches great importance to and supports
the preservation of the world's historical, cultural
and religious heritage,'' the foreign ministry said.

``We appeal to the Afghan government to take measures
to fully protect Afghanistan's rich historical
monuments, sites and artifacts which are part of the
world's cultural heritage.''

India Vows Action

India said it would try to stop the destruction.

``The government of India will raise this issue at
every international forum including the United
Nations. We will make all attempts to stop the
demolition of Lord Buddha's statue,'' parliamentary
affairs minister Pramod Mahajan told parliament.

``This is not only a statue, but a legacy of humanity.
Nobody should demolish it,'' he said.

Thailand and Sri Lanka -- both largely Buddhist
nations -- have made similar appeals.

Earlier this week, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
(news - web sites) urged the Taliban ``to do all in
their power to preserve the unique and irreplaceable
relics of Afghanistan's rich heritage, both Islamic
and pre-Islamic,'' a spokesman said.

Russia denounced the Taliban step as vandalism.

``This intention (to destroy the statues) can only be
classed as an assault on cultural and historical
treasures, not only of the Afghan people but of world
civilization,'' the Russian foreign ministry said in a
statement Thursday.

``The Taliban's vandalism against material objects of
the rich spiritual heritage of the ancient Afghan
world shows their clear enmity to common human
values,'' it added.

Germany condemned the Taliban action.

``Germany is appalled by the willful destruction of
cultural artifacts in Afghanistan. The damage to
culturally unique Buddha statues by the Taliban cannot
be justified,'' the foreign ministry said in a
statement issued in Berlin.

Taliban officials insist there will no reversal.

Statues Declared Un-Islamic

The Taliban has steadily conquered most of Afghanistan
in recent years, and now controls its cities and
highways.

The destruction of artifacts -- also under way in the
national museum in Kabul, which housed a prized
collection of early Buddhist statues -- has inflicted
new damage to the Taliban's already poor ties with
most countries.

Heavily criticized for its restrictions on women and
for its public executions, the Taliban is recognized
by only three states: Pakistan, the United Arab
Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Afghanistan has suffered destruction at the hands of
many conquerors in the past. Most recently it suffered
a Soviet invasion in 1979, an anti-communist
insurgency backed by the West in the 1980s and a civil
war in the 1990s.

The United Nations estimates that up to 600,000
Afghans have been displaced or have become refugees
this year because of conflict and a devastating
drought.




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